Nyack Department of Public Work employees spread salt on the sidewalks along Main Street in Nyack Dec. 31, 2008. (Vincent DiSalvio / The Journal News)

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All those commercial ice-melting salts sure are tempting in a snowstorm, but most are harmful to your lawn and plants.

Sand, kitty litter (the nonclumping kind) or sawdust are good alternatives, or try adding one part calcium chloride to three parts sand, sawdust or litter might be preferable.

I ran this on my In the Garden blog last winter - a public service announcement from Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Stormwater Consortium of Rockland County - and thought it worth a repeat today. ...